SPIRIT LAST FLIGHT
PONDER PAVILION
AMERICAN PICKERS Page A3
Page A8
Page B1
THE RECORD Serving the Dadeville & Lake Martin area since 1897
WWW.THEDADEVILLERECORD.COM
VOL. 125, NO. 46
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2021
$1.00
Tallapoosa county schools removes mask mandate Superintendent Ray Porter read the updated mask policy aloud during the meeting. Students and staff in “Tallapoosa County has Tallapoosa County schools will reached the moderate or yellow no longer be required to wear level as designated by the masks on school grounds. ADPH [Alabama Department The Tallapoosa County of Public Health]. Masks will Board of Education voted in now become optional in the their Annual Board Meeting Tallapoosa County School Wednesday to update their mask District. Facial coverings policy to make wearing a mask will remain mandatory for optional at county schools. passengers and drivers on By JAKE ARTHUR Chief Videographer
JAKE ARTHUR
school buses. The ADPH has interpreted the federal order requirement on all forms of public transportation to include school buses. This requirement supersedes the facial covering policy of the school. The Tallapoosa County Board reserves the right to reinstitute mandatory mask requirements should conditions warrant.”
THE RECORD
Superintendent Ray Porter read the updated mask policy aloud during the annual board meeting Tuesday night.
See MASK, Page A8
SIRI HEDREEN | THE RECORD
Assistant principal Pamela Holloway, students and Gillani scholarship recipients Jordan Parker, senior, and Logan Rawls, junior, and principal Chris Hand pose in front of Dadeville High School Tuesday.
Dadeville students Rawls, Parker win $1,000, ‘no-strings’ Gillani scholarship BY SIRI HEDREEN Multimedia Reporter Dadeville High School students Jordan Parker, senior, and Logan Rawls, junior, were unexpectedly called into the school’s main office Tuesday morning, only to be handed a check for $1,000 each. “It’s an incentive,” principal Chris Hand said. The Gillani Family Foundation scholarship, was set up specifically for Dadeville High School students by Lake Martin residents Cindy and Aleem Gillani last year. After applying in September, Rawls and Parker found out they were selected as the inaugural recipients this week. What’s unusual about the scholarship is, unlike most scholarships awarded to high schoolers, the students don’t have to be seniors, and they don’t have to be college-bound. In fact, they may not even have planned on finishing high school. All of that is by design. “The problem that Dadeville High School has is they have kids who go and work in the summer and then they don’t come back in the fall,” Aleem Gillani, retired SunTrust Banks CFO, told The Outlook in July. “We wanted to encourage kids to stay in school through the entire time. And the problem is if they’re making money, they don’t come back to school.” Just under 90 percent of Tallapoosa County Schools students graduate high school. Of the three schools, Dadeville’s rate is the lowest at about 83 percent. According to Aleem, the scholarship is an experiment, aimed at incentivizing students to return in the fall. To apply, students must keep a certain GPA, engage in community service over the summer and write an essay about it, but once awarded, the recipient can spend it however they please. According to the principal, it’s the first community scholarship in Dadeville awarded for any use. See GILLANI, Page A8
Weather
73 37 High
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
485.09
Reported on XX/XX/21 @ noon
83-YEAR-OLD MAN HIKES OVER
2,600 MILES
BY SIRI HEDREEN Multimedia Reporter
E
arlier this month, M.J. “Sunny” Eberhart, 83, broke the age record to become the oldest person to hike the Appalachian Trail. This week, “Nimblewill Nomad,” as he’s known on the trail, is back at home —
a ranger cabin atop Flagg Mountain, Coosa County. The only hiking he’s done since returning is the short walk between the woodpile and his fireside rocking chair. “I cannot express how happy I am to be here,” said Eberhart, who has declared the 10-month
journey his final longdistance hike. For the past few years, aside from a few subins during his hiking adventures, Eberhart has been the caretaker at Flagg Mountain, a part of western Coosa County’s See MAN, Page A5
SIRI HEDREEN | THE RECORD
ABOVE: Meredith J. Eberhart, “Nimblewill Nomad,” poses for a photo at the ranger station at Flagg Mountain in Weogufka, Alabama. Eberhart, at 83 years old, is the oldest person to have completely hiked the Appalachian Trail. BACKGROUND: The lookout tower atop Flagg Mountain in Weogufka is maintained by Meredith J. Eberhart.
Get more feedback from buyers when you advertise in the Classifieds. In Print & Online
CALL CLASSIFIEDS TODAY (256 ) 277-4219